Undercover cops nab 38 linked to 2 gangs

Little Village crime tied to rival groups

March 31, 2006|By David Heinzmann, Tribune staff reporter

An 11-month undercover investigation has wiped out a group of Latin Kings who dealt drugs and are believed to have caused most of the violence, along with rival members of the Two-Six gang, in the Little Village neighborhood, police said Thursday.

Police have arrested 38 suspected gang members, the majority of whom were Latin Kings and several members of the Two-Six gang, Deputy Supt. Hiram Grau said.

As many as 18 murders and 56 shootings have been tied to the violence between the two gangs in Little Village in the last three years, police said. Police began conducting undercover purchases of drugs from the dealers 11 months ago, Grau said, in response to the persistent violence that plagued the area.

"We went there for one reason and one reason only--they were shooting," said Lt. John Rowton who oversaw the investigation by the Narcotics and Gang Investigation Section.

The set of Latin Kings dismantled operated in an area bounded Cermak Road, 31st Street, Kedzie and Kostner Avenues.

Police acknowledged that the Latin Kings are a very large organization and the set dismantled is one of many. While the investigators did arrest two prominent leaders, or "Incas," of the gang, it has not reached the top level of gang leadership.

The investigation is ongoing, Rowton said, and police are focusing on the drug trafficking parts of the gang operation. The Latin Kings control much of the flow of cocaine and heroin into the city from Mexico and are involved in distributing the drugs to many African-American gangs in the city, Grau said.

This particular set of the gang, which dealt most of the cocaine and heroin in the area, reaped an estimated $12 million a year from the drug business, police said. The investigation seized 75 pounds of marijuana, 251 grams of heroin and 525 grams of powder cocaine, police said.

The city also is investigating nine houses and buildings in the area that were purchased or acquired with drug money, police said. The city may seize the properties, authorities said.

The violence related to the rivalry between the Latin Kings and Two-Six extends beyond Little Village, police said . On Wednesday, police arrested Melecio Ochoa, 18, and a 13-year-old for a shooting in the Bridgeport neighborhood that injured a 6-year-old boy.

Ochoa is accused of shooting at rival gang members who were in front of the Fellowship Youth Center at 844 W. 32nd St. A bullet shattered a window of the center and a shard of glass struck the boy inside a classroom in the eye, police said. The boy's injuries were not life-threatening.